Articles Tagged withsecurities fraud attorney

Would you listen if a company selling its stock asked you to reject a buyer’s offer?

That’s the conundrum facing stockholders of American Finance Trust, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFIN.) This REIT was formerly not traded, and sponsored by AR Global. The company has 75% of its Class A and former Class B-1 shares, 400,000, on the NASDAQ. The remaining Class B-2 shares are expected to be listed in January 2019.

McKenzie Realty Capital Inc. made, for the second time, an unsolicited tender offer to purchase up to 400,000 shares of each class of the company’s common stock. AFIN’s board is urging stockholders to reject McKenzie’s offer. However, both sides offer reasons for their recommendation.

The SEC recently published some guidance on variable annuities, an investment contract between an investor and an insurance company.

What It Is

A variable annuity is an investment account purchased from an insurance company that includes different types of insurance features. It can grow on a tax-deferred basis, and you can purchase one with a single payment or with regular “installment-plan” payments.

Marc Korsch (CRD #5525226) has been employed by Centaurus Financial, Inc. since February 2014. Korsch was registered with the following firms: Trustmont Financial Group, Inc. from March 2011 to March 2014, Capital Financial Services, Inc. from July 2010 to March 2011, Variable Investment Advisors, Inc. from April 2010 to July 2010 and Gradient Securities, LLC from July 2009 to April 2010.

According to the FINRA BrokerCheck, there have been complaints against Marc Korsch.

In 2018, while employed by Centaurus Financial, Inc., Claimant alleges that recommendation of annuity switches are unsuitable and that the fees, surrender penalties/charges and annuity terms were not adequately discussed.

Jonathan William Iraggi (CRD #5857254) is a former registered broker whose last employer was National Securities Corporation (CRD #7569) of Morganville, NJ. His previous employers include Garden State Securities, Inc. (CRD #10083) of Red Bank, NJ, Spartan Capital Securities, LLC (CRD #146251) and Portfolio Advisors Alliance, Inc. (CRD #101680) of New York, NY. No current employment information is available. He has been in the industry since 2011.

Iraggi is the subject of four disclosures, the most recent a disciplinary action by FINRA, as well as one employment discharge and two denied customer disputes. In the FINRA action, filed on 8/23/2018, Iraggi failed to notify his employer firm, Garden State Securities, that he had verbal authorization to exercise discretion in three customer accounts. Iraggi did not obtain written authorization from the clients, nor written authorization from the firm to service the accounts on a discretionary basis.

Later, when filling out an annual compliance questionnaire in December of 2016, Iraggi failed to disclose to the firm that he had exercised discretion with a customer’s account, answering “no” when he actually had. Iraggi was fined $5,000 and a 30-day suspension from any association with a FINRA member firm, consented to the findings and signed a letter of Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (AWC.)

There are three disclosures in Makharia’s FINRA record. Two nearly identical customer disputes were filed on 11/8/018 and 10/15/2018. Both allege “unsuitability,” and one describes but doesn’t include “several other allegations associated therewith.” Makharia denies allegations in both disputes. Both disputes are currently pending.

A third customer dispute, filed on 1/31/2017 with the state of South Carolina, alleges that Makharia sold the customer a CD but failed to provide a prospectus. The client requested damages of $20,000. After an investigation provided the required information to the state, the claim was closed with no further actions.

Mantei is the subject of eight disclosures, three of which are currently pending customer disputes, all with the allegations of “unsuitability.” The most recent were filed on 10/25/2018 and 9/28/2018, with requested damages totaling $268,238.

The third customer dispute, filed on 5/21/2018, is from by the daughter of a deceased client. In this case, a registered representative under Mantei recommended “unsuitable investments” which resulted in a loss upon liquidation. The damages requested total $100,000. Mantei states in his rebuttal that he was acting in his capacity as Branch Manager for the Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction where the RR was assigned, there was a survivorship option involved, and denies the allegations.

Silver Law Group represented the Claimant in a FINRA arbitration claim against Texas E&P Partner, Inc. and Mark Plummer. Scott Silver, managing partner of Silver Law Group, a leading securities and investment fraud law firm, said “the Award is significant because we have seen a rise in cases involving private placements and alternative investments and we are grateful that the FINRA Panel recognized the damage caused by Respondent.

The securities arbitration claim alleged that Respondents sold a Reg D private placement to the Claimant without disclosing all of the risks and the investment was unsuitable. The FINRA Statement of Claim further alleged that the Respondents charged excess commissions or markups. Significantly, the FINRA Arbitration Panel found that Respondents are jointly and severally liable for and shall pay to Claimant the sum of $1,000,000.00 in punitive damages pursuant to Mastrobuono v. Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc., 514 U.S. 52, 64 (1995).

If you’ve lost money investing in unsuitable private placements or Reg “D” offerings, you may be able to recover your investment losses. We take cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we recover. Please contactScott Silver of the Silver Law Group for a free consultation at ssilver@silverlaw.com or toll free at (800) 975-4345.

Our attorneys currently represent customers of Jon Pariser against Independent Financial Group for losses related to First Nationle Solution. Jon Richard Pariser (CRD #2755015) is a former registered broker whose last employer was Independent Financial Group, LLC (CRD #7717) of Pacific Grove, CA. His previous employers include SWS Financial Services, INC. (CRD #17587) and LPL Financial LLC (CRD #6413), also of Pacific Grove, CA. No current employment information is available. He has been in the industry since 1996.

Pariser is barred in all capacities after he failed to provide requested information to FINRA for an investigation. The documentation relates to allegations that he referred some of his customers to an individual who was not a registered FINRA broker. This unregistered individual and may have recommended to or actually sold these customers “potentially unsuitable” securities. Pariser violated FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010 by refusing to provide this requested documentation, which led to him being barred. He signed an Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (AWC) letter consenting to the sanctions, and he is barred effective 10/04/2018.

His next disclosure is an employment separation from SWS Financial Services on 6/20/2014, which is connected by a closed customer dispute filed four days earlier, involving “unauthorized discretion.” The allegations state that “during the course of normal e-mail correspondence review, firm supervisors discovered an e-mail message from the customer containing language indicating that the representative may have engaged in unauthorized discretionary trading.”